Roadtrip Recap

I wouldn't put the four day road trip that took our little family across seven states as being quite on par with the Griswold level of comedic adventures. However, since we're nearly four weeks removed from the journey, I can now laugh more than shudder at the memories.
As I said in my last post, moving day got interrupted when a migraine knocked me down for most of the afternoon. Since I was still pretty groggy from the medication when it was time to depart, Lindsay drove for the first few hours.

We were so anxious to get going, that it wasn't until we came to this sign 

that we realized we were really leaving. Little tear. 

Murphy Girl had not napped all day, so I was sure she would fall asleep as soon as we got going. This, did not happen. She was fairly happy, but clearly tired, for the first few hours. Finally little one dozed off just as we crossed the Kansas state line. 

Prior to our trip I'd had this vision of us stopping at every 'Welcome to...' sign and getting a pic to commemorate our trip, but as we slowly pulled off the highway to get this first shot, Murphy jolted awake.  No picture is worth waking a sleeping dog child, so this would be the only such photo we got. (Not just because of the sleeping, but also because a couple of the 'Welcome to...' signs were in odd spots, like overpasses of busy highways.) 

The hubby rounded out his share of the driving (for the entire trip, I mean) three hours into day number one when I took over for the final two hours that lead us to the luxurious accommodations of the Days Inn in Hayes, Kansas. It's been quite some time since I've stayed at a motel with outside doors, but the digs weren't half bad. Since a TripAdvisor reviewer had spoken of urine smells and bedbugs, I felt pretty darn lucky that our room for the night was clean and relatively comfy. 

After a decent night's sleep and a stop at a local convenient store for Wizard of Oz souvenirs, we were on the road by late morning Friday. The drive across Kansas was, how to say it... long? boring? flat? boring? Two things did jump out at me as I saw them over and over and over as we made our way across the state:

1. The large amount of adult stores/arcades/shops/movie viewing locations.
2. The large amount of signs for/about Jesus. A favorite: the face of Jesus drawn as stalks of wheat into a wheat field on a billboard.

I was especially intrigued by the sign about Jesus IN the parking lot of an adult shop. It read along of the lines of 'Pornography destroys; Jesus restores.'

As I mentioned, after the first few hours on day one, I drove the entire trip. Lindsay did offer to drive a few times, but he and I both know that even if we're just making a quick trip to Target, it's usually best for us if I'm behind the wheel. Once we came to this realization about a year or so ago, time spent in the car has been far more pleasant. The only snafu with being the sole driver on such a long trip, is that it is sometimes helpful to have someone to talk to along the way. For most of the trip, we were both busy talking to the kids, figuring out what they needed, and keeping them entertained. During the few (FEW) times that both girls were occupied for any longer than a few minutes, I'd find myself getting antsy and uncomfortable and want to chit-chat with my love. The problem with this, is that once the girls would settle, my hubby would, too. This man can fall asleep anytime, anywhere at a moment's notice.

This picture was taken less than ten seconds after he'd asked me a question.

(No exaggeration.)

We rolled into St. Louis at around 8:30 on Friday night. Lindsay took Carter to the pool, so that I could get Murphy settled in for the night (day number two of no nap.) While I had ideas of her laying down and quickly drifting off to dreamland, she had other ideas.

Blowing kisses and squealing with joy.

Over and over and over and over.

Like Murphy, it took all of us a bit longer to fall asleep that night. On Saturday morning, Lindsay took Murphy to enjoy the free continental breakfast while Carter and I got a little more shut-eye. Carter requested I take a picture of her with Addie before we headed downstairs.

The little figurine is Glinda the Good Witch.

Her head would be broken off within the hour.

Saturday's drive included parts of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. My favorite billboard of the day was one that read:

Help At Risk and Orphaned Youth: Donate a Car or Boat

Really?!? because what every orphaned child wants is a '02 Camry? Really?!? a kid living in a gang infested neighborhood will completely have his life turned around by the acquisition of a speed boat?

Lindsay was reading a book when I saw billboard, so I didn't point it out to get his take on it, but I'm certain he would have been as entertained/confused as I was. 

For the first, and only time on our trip, we stopped for a real meal at a Cracker Barrel. (I should add, I saw a child eating a McDonald's Happy Meal at the table with his family who were all eating Cracker Barrel. Really?! The chicken fingers and burgers and fries served at Cracker Barrel were just no match for the contents of that little box?) Lindsay, Carter, and I enjoyed our tasty, hot meal, but Murphy was completely out of her mind during lunch. Throwing things, attacking us, screaming, refusing a bite of food... a real joy she was. We made sure to let Carter choose a special toy from the Cracker Barrel gift shop so that she would feel rewarded for acting like a normal child rather than an untamed animal. We hadn't been on the road for five minutes before I looked in the rearview mirror and saw this...

Her only real nap of the entire trip.

This gave us some insight into her insanity during lunch, and we all took advantage of the two hour nap she took that day. Carter logged in some QT on the IPad, Lindsay made his way through a Stephen King novel, and I sang along to Monster Ballads and Bon Jovi. 

Late in the afternoon we made a stop at a travel lodge in Kentucky. G-ross. That's all.

With about an hour and a half to go before Knoxville, our stop for the night, Murphy began to have two very specific requests: 1) that I sing the ABC's to her (she'd make this little request by shrieking 'ABC! ABC!') and 2) that I keep my hand on her toes. (she'd make this delightful little request by saying 'tickle! tootsies!' over and over and over.) The singing, I could handle, and she didn't mind if occasionally Daddy or Big Sis took over for a round or two of the alphabet song. The toe request was Mommy-specific and allowed for no substitutions. So, with one hand on the wheel, I kept my other hand stretched to the backseat for gentle toe-rubbing on and off (mostly on) for over an hour. It was kind of funny when Lindsay would try to take over the job. Murphy would immediately began wailing, 'All done! All done!' 

We rolled into the LaQuinta in Knoxville at around 10:00 PM. We'd learned via a phone call about thirty minutes prior to our arrival that the hotel had no cribs available. We feared the worst as Murphy had never slept in a bed and certainly not in a bed in the same room as three other people. I'd say our fears did, indeed, come to fruition.

Murphy and Daddy each on their own IPads at around 11:30 PM.

Sleep would not come, to anyone, until after 1:00 AM.

The night involved several switch offs between what grown up was sleeping in bed with what child. Murphy was ready to start the day by 8:30 AM, (Eastern time, mind you. Remember, we started this trip on Mountain time.) so she and I headed out for a little breakfast in the lobby. 

I was disgusted by a conversation I overheard in which a mother was telling her two teenage children that 'If your Daddy'd been in that theater, none of them people'd be dead. He'd a stopped that crazy man.' (The horrible shooting rampage in Aurora, Colorado, occurred on the night we left the state.) While I understood her desire to want her children to see their father as a superhero, I was sickened that she could insinuate that that theater wasn't full of heroes.  

Though we covered the fewest number of miles on Sunday, it felt like the longest day. Carter said, 'How much longer?!' more than a few times, and I was closely watching the odometer slowly turn. I think we were all just antsy to get where we were going, and despite the gorgeous Tennessee and Asheville views, we were dying to see that Charlotte skyline! It was around 3:00 PM when we finally reached our destination. 

When we walked onto our front porch for the first time, 

we looked down to see this

An adorable Welcome Home banner from 

Lindsay's cousins who live just a couple miles away.

We immediately felt so loved!

We took a second to pose for a quick family pic

before walking in our front door for the first time

Our realtor had seen the house, and we'd seen pictures online, but this was the first time we'd actually seen it in person. The girls went crazy running around in the huge, empty house. Carter was excited beyond belief when she discovered that the room that would be their playroom was already painted her favorite color, orange. We took a tour of the house, chose bedrooms, and marveled and how much space we were going to have. When we walked into the master bedroom, I realized for the first time, the toll the four day road trip had taken on my 6 months pregnant body.

I collapsed to the floor with my girls.

Our relaxation and excitement was cut short when we took a look and the time and realized Lindsay had a flight to catch! That's right: just three hours after we completed a cross-country road trip, he boarded a flight to head to Oklahoma for work. The girls and I (and Addie!) hopped back in the car for the nearly two hour drive to Nanny and Pa's where we'd stay until the call came letting us know that the movers had arrived.

I consider this trip to be a pivotal event in the life of our little family... 

4 days. 1500 miles. 2.6 kids. 1 doggie. 2 sometimes grumpy grown-ups.

And we survived!

(For my part, I consider my greatest accomplishment of the four days the fact that, besides a McDonald's ice cream cone on day four, my children did not consume any fast food* on the entire trip. *I did not say no candy or cookies or other treats. I said no fast food.* Proud, nonetheless.) 

(My least proud moment may or may not involve the personal use of an itty bitty pop up potty on the side of of an interstate exit in some non-descript town in Kansas.)